Vascular Surgeon

Repair the arteries and veins that keep people alive. Among the longest training in medicine, and some of the highest pay.

Typical pay: $414,010a year
Time to qualify: 13 to 15 yearsafter high school
Demand: Moderate
License needed: Yesregulated job

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Quick answers

How much does a vascular surgeon make in the United States?

The median pay is about $414,010 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $80,320 at the lower end to about $655,320 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.

How long does it take to become a vascular surgeon in the United States?

13 to 15 years after high school, on the usual route.

What does it cost to become a vascular surgeon?

$156,000 to $235,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a license to work as a vascular surgeon in the United States?

Yes. It is a regulated job, so you need a license or registration before you can work.

What is the job outlook for a vascular surgeon in the United States?

Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.

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Vascular Surgeon salary in the United States

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What vascular surgeons make

Median for the group

$414,010

Bottom tenth

$80,320

Top tenth

$655,320

There is no vascular surgeon line in the federal wage survey. It files them under Surgeons, All Other, a mix of surgical specialties. In the 2025 federal wage survey that group's median is $414,010 a year, the bottom tenth earn $80,320 or less and the top tenth $655,320 or more. These figures describe the whole group, not this specialty alone, and they count only surgeons paid a wage, so surgeons who own part of their practice are missing.

Where pay is highest

$604,890 a year

The median for the Surgeons, All Other group in North Dakota, the highest of any state

Minnesota is next at $568,150 and Ohio at $554,220. The lowest of the states with data is California, at $131,990. State medians from the 2025 federal wage survey, for the whole mixed group.

What you earn while you train

$75,651 to $102,531

One teaching hospital's 2026 to 2027 pay for years 1 to 7 after medical school

That is Dartmouth Health's published scale. Each hospital sets its own. Five to seven years at that level, on long weeks, while your medical school debt waits. Nationally, the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) survey of 345 teaching hospitals puts the average first-year stipend at $68,166 as of July 1, 2025, and about $81,807 in the fifth year. Read from the AAMC's data, downloaded in a browser with Claude in Chrome on 6 November 2026, because aamc.org refuses our checker.

What it costs to get there

Bachelor's degree, public university, in state: Roughly $12,000 a year in tuition and fees on average
MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) and applications: The test fee, then $1,000 to $3,000 applying to schools
Medical school, public and in state: Roughly $30,000 to $45,000 a year. Private schools cost more
USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) steps: Several hundred dollars for each of the three steps

Roughly, all in

$156,000 to $235,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

There is no cheap door. The low end is two years at a community college then two at an in state public university for the bachelor's degree, the Medical College Admission Test, with $1,000 to $3,000 in applications, four years of public in state medical school at roughly $30,000 a year, and the United States Medical Licensing Examination steps at several hundred dollars each. The high end is four full years of in state university at $12,000 a year and medical school at $45,000 a year, with private schools higher again. The long surgical residency and fellowship are paid jobs, so they add years rather than tuition. Most graduates borrow, and the debt is large.

File the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) every year. Most medical students borrow, and the debt is large. Work at a nonprofit or government hospital and Public Service Loan Forgiveness can cancel the balance after 10 years of qualifying payments, with residency years counting toward those 10.

Benefits

Malpractice insurance paid for you
Vascular coverage is expensive, and employers almost always carry it.
Signing bonuses and loan repayment
Hospitals outside large metro areas often offer both to recruit.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Most teaching hospitals are nonprofit, so the years you already worked count.
Total job security
A ruptured aneurysm cannot wait for a transfer. Any hospital with a trauma program needs this specialty on call.

How to become a vascular surgeon in the United States

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming a vascular surgeon, step by step

Thirteen to fifteen years after high school, by one of two routes.

1
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Top grades in biology, chemistry, physics and math, aimed at a competitive pre-medical undergraduate place.
2
Bachelor's degree
4 years
Any major, plus the pre-medical science courses. High GPA, research, clinical hours, and the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test).
3
Medical school
4 years
Two years of science then two of clinical rotations. Get into an operating room early and find a vascular mentor.
4
Residency, one of two routes
5 to 7 years
Either an integrated vascular surgery residency of five years straight out of medical school, or five years of general surgery followed by a two year vascular fellowship.
5
Board certification
1 to 3 years after training
The American Board of Surgery runs a vascular surgery qualifying examination and then a certifying examination. You have no more than seven academic years after training to finish both.

High school courses that help you become a vascular surgeon

Biology and chemistry
Required everywhere for pre-medical study.
Physics
Blood flow, pressure and imaging are physics, and physics is on the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test).
Calculus and statistics
Reading clinical trials is a lifelong part of the job.
English
You will explain amputation risk to frightened people. Clear speech is a clinical skill.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 13 to 15
Admission: Medical school is competitive, and integrated vascular spots are far scarcer
Total tuition: About $156,000 to $235,000 at in-state public rates
Paid while training?: Only from residency onward

A state license and a board certification

You need a medical license from the state board where you work, which means finishing medical school and passing all three steps of the United States Medical Licensing Examination. Certification in vascular surgery is separate, from the American Board of Surgery, and takes two exams: a qualifying examination and then a certifying examination, for which you must already hold a full unrestricted state license. Hospitals will not grant operating privileges without both.

What helps you get ahead as a vascular surgeon

Things you don't need, but that help.

What shapes the career after training

Endovascular skills
Repairing vessels through a catheter in the groin instead of opening the chest or belly. Now most of the caseload.
Aortic surgery
Complex aneurysm repair, concentrated at a small number of centers.
Limb salvage and wound care
Saving the feet of people with diabetes. Enormous need, and deeply unglamorous work.
Academic practice
Teaching residents and running trials, for less money than private practice.

Nice-to-haves

Research during medical school
Integrated vascular residency applicants are usually published.
Ultrasound skills
Vascular surgeons read their own scans, and many run their own vascular lab.
Stamina
An aortic case can run eight hours, and the emergencies come at night.
A rural or underserved commitment
State and federal loan repayment programs pay real money for a few years of service.

What being a vascular surgeon is really like

Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.

What a vascular surgeon does day to day

In by 6am for rounds, then the operating room or the catheter suite: a bypass to save a leg, a stent in an aorta, a dialysis access for a kidney patient. Clinic on the other days, mostly older patients with blocked arteries, diabetes and smoking histories. Emergencies interrupt everything, because a ruptured aneurysm is measured in minutes.

The honest pros and cons of being a vascular surgeon

The good

A group median of $414,010 a year in the 2025 federal wage survey
You save limbs and lives in a way patients can see
Both open surgery and catheter work, so the job keeps changing
Every hospital with a trauma program needs this specialty on call

The hard parts

Thirteen to fifteen years of training before you are finished
Heavy night and weekend call, permanently
Radiation exposure in the catheter suite and a lead apron all day
Many patients are very sick, and some outcomes are bad no matter what you do

Work life

Typical hours: 55 to 70 a week, plus call
Remote work: Almost none
Physical demand: High, long hours standing in lead
Unionized: No, though resident unions are spreading

Similar paths

Things nobody tells you about being a vascular surgeon

Things people don't tell you.

Seven years to get certified

The American Board of Surgery gives vascular surgeons no more than seven academic years after training to pass both its qualifying and certifying exams, and you need a full state license before the second one.

A small group of surgeons

Vascular surgeons are counted in Surgeons, All Other, a group of only about 27,500 people (2025). The federal projection expects average growth and about 700 openings a year across the whole group.

How a vascular surgeon compares

Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.

More health careers in the US

Surgeons first, then the rest of the field. See every career in health.

Where these numbers come from

Last checked November 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.